As disclosed by a Public Policy Polling poll, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst is well below the margin he needs to win the GOP nomination for U.S. Senate outright in the May 29 primary.

The Houston Chronicle reports that, “Dewhurst must break 50 percent to avoid a runoff, but the PPP poll shows him at 38 percent among GOP primary voters. Cruz has 26 percent, which the polling firm noted continues his steady increase over three polls.”

The poll reveals that former Dallas mayor Tom Leppert at 8 percent and Craig James, a former ESPN football analyst, at 7 percent.

According to the Houston Chronicle, “Leppert campaign spokesman Dan Keylin said, ‘we know from our own polling and from our growing grassroots support across the state that Tom’s message resonates with Texans. When voters are given a choice between a career politician, a government lawyer and a conservative businessman – we win. We’ve just placed several million dollars of television and radio ads to aggressively take our message to voters across Texas. With voters now just starting to focus on this race, the difference between the candidates will become clearer each and every day.”

The Cruz campaign has already used the poll to request donations, saying in an email, “this poll is certainly encouraging news. We’re being outspent by over 6:1, have yet to spend money reminding voters about Dewhurst’s tax-and-spend record, and we’re already positioned to enter a runoff.”